Because of the global pandemic, we are living in unprecedented times with many people feeling overwhelmed, scared, and that they’ve lost all control. Collectively, many scientists worldwide are working to figure out how to stop COVID-19’s contagion and, while they they achieve this, many of us have been asked to work from home.
From a practical point of view, working from home can create a new set of challenges. If you’re a leader, understanding your team's unique circumstances under these trying conditions will help you impact their sense of calm and their continued commitment. Some perspectives for leaders to consider are:
Research shows that remote work can actually create even greater effectiveness. It may take a little while to get the flow and infrastructure set up but once this has been achieved, leaders may be surprised by the results.
Since so many people are feeling overwhelmed, to reduce anxiety among team members, leaders may need to over-communicate especially in the early stages of the transition to a work from home environment.
To prevent potential loneliness and separation, it’ll be important to create spaces to keep everyone feeling connected. These spaces could take many forms and can be either formal (e.g. regular team meetings) or informal (e.g. coffee chats, cocktail hours, competitive games, etc.). Leaders may also want to take a few minutes to check-in at the beginning of some meetings just to see how everyone is adjusting.
Priorities and measurements may need to be reassessed to align what is now important. This could also include looking at existing meetings to determine if these could be reduced or optimized. In some cases, a more formal structure may be needed (e.g dropping by someone’s desk is no longer an option).
Also important is to look at what is within each individual’s control, employee or leader, in a remote work environment. Examples include:
What type of work space do they have available, or could they create, that is as comfortable as they can make it? Do they need additional infrastructure support and could the company provide it? Do they need to learn to use new tools (e.g. Google Office, etc.)?
If they have children, what possible structures could be created to support families that would allow the parent to work from home (e.g. school work time, creating online play dates, if they were married co-creating a work strategy with their spouse, etc.)?
Since loss of work-life balance can be a consequence of working from home, how will they keep a work-life balance? Could they establish work hour boundaries to avoid burnout and overwhelm?
If they’ve been impacted financially, or are concerned they might be, what possible next steps could they take to better understand and manage their financial position?
How will they take care of their emotional state? Have they built in breaks during the day? If they don’t have a mindfulness practice, is it time to begin one? Might a coach or therapist be a good idea in the short term?
With some of these foundations in place some leaders and their teams, collectively and individually, may be able to step back and look at the bigger picture.
Can they see any light in the midst of this uncertainty?
If they’ve had a temporary reduction in work, could they provide temporary support to their manager or other groups who have had an increase in workload?
What could they do now that they hadn’t been able to do before or for a while (e.g. be more strategic, be more reflective, exercise more frequently, focus on their nutrition, connect with family, etc.)?
Bringing this all together, setting yourself up to work remotely starts and ends with taking a moment to take a breath and making conscious choices. Just with this action, you will begin to regain a sense of control and greater calm over the uncertainty that we are all of facing. My hope is that because of this we will all remember that we’re in this together.